Associated PressKobe Bryant and the Lakers came up short against Dwyane Wade and the Heat on Thursday.

The five most interesting stories, rumors and notes in the NBA:1. The value of hard work: Parron Outing became, at least for one day, the most famous ball boy in the NBA, thanks to Kobe Bryant's work ethic.

On Thursday, the Miami Heat snapped the most psychoanalyzed five-game losing streak in sports history, beating the visiting Lakers 94-88. Bryant scored 24 points, but shot 8 for 21 from the field and was stripped of the ball by Miami's Dwyane Wade during a crucial late possession.

The loss ended the Lakers' eight-game winning streak.

So what did Bryant do after the game? Did he go to a podium and stammer about the Lakers needing to stick together, about frustration, about searching for answers -- as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did repeatedly during the Heat's struggles?

Nope. Bryant, instead, returned to the American Airlines Arena court and worked on his shooting for an hour. Because the Lakers weren't scheduled to leave town until the morning, Bryant took the opportunity to go back to the court and stay there long after all the other players and coaches were gone.

The workout was so unexpected, a large group of reporters stayed around to watch. Then, incredibly, Bryant gave a little mini news conference after he was done, telling the media who stuck around why he put himself through the workout.

"We got a game on Saturday [against the Mavericks], and I won't be able to get a good work in [on Friday]," Bryant said. "So, it's good to get
one in tonight, get some rest, have a good day of travel tomorrow and be
ready on Saturday."

The workout prompted some extra work for Outing, a team attendant whose duties include shagging balls when players shoot. Outing gave an interview to ESPN.com, saying, "This is an experience that you'll always cherish."

Outing, a 31-year-old Air Force staff sergeant, already had gained a measure of notoriety last fall. He was person who suggested the Heat hold training camp at a military base, and the team, to his surprise, took the suggestion, holding camp at Hurlburt
Field, 654 miles north of Miami.

2. Oh good Bosh: Chris Bosh, at least for one game, found redemption in the Heat's win. After being badly outplayed by Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge on Tuesday, then complaining he wasn't getting enough touches inside, Bosh asserted himself with 24 points and nine rebounds.

The Heat did something neither the Celtics ror Bulls have been able to do -- sweep the Lakers this season. But anyone who thinks Miami is instantly cured should hold on. On Thursday, they were a desperate team -- embarrassed by the glut of negative publicity from the losing streak.

"We had everything riding on this game, to be honest with you," Bosh said.

All five losses in the Heat's losing streak came against playoff-bound teams, but they're not about to get a break in their schedule. Their next five opponents: Memphis, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Atlanta and Denver.

APRick Adelman is in the final year of his contract with the Rockets.

3. Not quite owning up: Rockets owner Leslie Alexander employs a coach, Rick Adelman, who just moved into the top 10 in all-time NBA wins. Surely any owner wants such a coach back, right?

"At the end of the season, I’ll sit down with Daryl and we’ll talk about
it," Alexander said. "Nothing has been done yet, or thought about yet
in that regard."

Alexander had a very fine coach in Jeff Van Gundy, but fired him in 2007 (although it was to ESPN's gain -- Van Gundy is terrific on color commentary). He made an excellent hire in Adelman, who has kept the Rockets winning (for the most part) even with their many injuries.

Despite dealing away Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks at the trade deadline, Houston (33-33) is three games out of eighth place in the Western Conference. Certainly, the Rockets are a longshot to make the playoffs, but they still have a fighting chance. Or do they?

"This is a very good team, but it is not good enough to be in the playoffs in the West," Alexander tells Feigen.

Nice support, boss.

There are certainly hints the Alexander is steering toward a coaching change. He tells Feigen of Adelman: "I understand that he lives in Portland. Coming back and forth is a tough thing. That’s all I can say. I can’t speak for him."

Surely Alexander doesn't think Adelman commutes to work from Portland?4. Trying it again: The biggest hindrance for the Rockets in trying to reach their full potential is the health -- or lack thereof -- of center Yao Ming.

His superstar teaming with Tracy McGrady never worked out (also because of injuries, to McGrady), but even without McGrady, Yao was good enough to lead Houston to the second round of the playoffs in 2008-09, when they took the Lakers to seven games before losing.

But Yao has played just five games since that series (incredibly, that's 16 less than Portland's Greg Oden), undergoing surgeries on his left foot in July 2009 and left ankle this season. Although he said after his most recent surgery that he might consider retirement, he said at a recent charity function that he will try to make another comeback, Feigen reports.

Yao says he still can't walk "on his full weight," and isn't sure about a time frame. But he has seemed to maintain a decent attitude, helped greatly by his dry sense of humor.

"When you lay on a bed and eat hamburgers and drink soda, actually your
day is pretty easy, not too hard," he said. "One day, you realize you
already gained 20 pounds. The tough part is always come back, always
slowly start the engine again."

Yao will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Should be very interesting to see who takes a chance on him.

5. Kings of comedy: The possible move of the Kings to Anaheim remains a hot topic in Sacramento. Last night, Mayor Kevin Johnson held a public meeting at a community center, and according to KCRA-TV, the Kings were by far the biggest topic.

"Literally 90 percent of the questions were on the Kings," Johnson said.

The issue is so hot, Duff McKagan, the former bassist for Guns N' Roses, wrote a column for ESPN.com about it. Actually, he used the Kings as a jumping off point to rant about Clay Bennett taking the Sonics out of Seattle, his hometown, but his heart's in the right place. He writes of the Sonics' move:

That sucks and is just not fair in some dark way, because the move wasn't caused by fan apathy or a lack of fan support.

Meanwhile, back in Sacramento, a local sportscaster tried to insert some levity into the discussion. Jim Crandell of KTXL, the city's Fox affiliate, sent out a message via Twitter that said, "“Coming up in my show at 10PM, David Stern makes the announcement no Kings wants to hear…"

The "announcement" was simply an old video of Stern's 1985 announcement of the Kings' move from Kansas City, Andrew Gauthier reports on his TVSpy blog. After showing the original video, Crandell then showed a version with "Sacramento" dubbed for Kansas City and "Anaheim" dubbed for Sacramento.

Some Kings fans, Gauthier reports, were not only not amused, they were angry.